NINJA SCROLL : Picnic in the woods
by Dark Fiber
Summary: A Ninja Scroll fanfic starring Jubei.. as he goes for a walk in the woods


  
Water cascaded without inhibitions over the rock. It was after  
all, the duty of the river. The rock was merely something that  
tried to subvert fate. It was also a thing highly sought after.  
The ball of Jubei's left foot barley touched the cold black  
surface of the rock and took flight again, and again and again to  
land soundlessly on the rivers far bank. In a crouch he pushed  
his nindo outward, listening to the blades of large wild grass  
that commanded the rivers edge. Nothing. Widening his eyes he  
unfocused the pupils. His breathing stopped. waiting. His breast  
didn't move. waiting. stock still. waiting. senses kicked into  
overdrive. waiting. The sounds of a burbling river. cicadas.  
slight warm breeze in the upper branches. waiting. disfigured  
cloud shadows formed a moonlight play before him. waiting. And  
then *IT* sounded. A shrill crying set his body to motion toward  
a quarry located deeper into the forest.  
  
  
- [*] - [*] - [*] -  
  
  
The Ed Wood school of fanfic  
  
presents  
  
NINJA SCROLL : Picnic in the woods  
v0.1b  
  
The Crudmeister entropy@mpx.com.au  
  
  
This takes place after the anime in which Kagero dies.  
  
  
- [*] - [*] - [*] -  
  
  
"Quiet bitch." A slap up the side of the head. low wimpering  
murmurs. another stunning slap. tearing. Her intricately put up  
hair was not holding up well, but considerable better than her  
pale blue yukata.  
  
Silent footfalls brought Jubei up behind on of the larger  
girthed pine trees. He counted five brutes of varying sizes, and  
all were too involved in the act of molesting their captive. Her  
struggles heightened as her senses started to come back.  
  
"Excuse me." Jubei stepped fully into the clearing, "I don't  
think that the lady is feeling quite up to your ministrations  
today. What's say I take her home and you go find yourselves a  
frisky pig or mule."  
  
"Whaaaat? You dare insult US? Get him!"  
  
The tallest of the men became aware of her struggles to escape,  
latched onto her arm with one large hand and belted her squarely  
across the jaw, knocking her senseless. In one fluid movement he  
hoisted her prone body across his shoulders and took to the  
forest. One of the smaller stiletto weilding rapists took off  
behind his master.  
  
Three men remained. Jubei looked them over. The first man  
reached behind him and drew out two Ri Yue Hu Xing Jian and  
started waving them around wildly. The second picked up his Qing  
Long Dao from the ground next to his shirt, the third a  
Kusari-Gama*3. Eyes gave off an inner ember red glow. unnatural  
in the least. daemons. He was facing off three daemen.  
  
"My, very impressive for ronin." Jubei mocked them "an unarmed  
woman against five daemen". A scraping sound issued from the  
drawing of his Katana.  
"We could talk about this" he offered half heartedly. eight  
feet scramble. manic screaming. A three-on-one ensued.  
  
Three to one. three skillful opponents. bad odds. Part of  
Jubei's mind flitted from one strategy to the next whilst another  
part of his mind kept his senses alert and yet another part  
coordinated his honed body. thrust. spin. feint. It was more  
than he could handle. Two separate hits drew blood.  
"I think the human is getting dizzy." one of them said.  
  
He edged back, trying to keep all three in eye shot. sinking. a  
quick glance downward. mud? Working them backward, he forced.  
pushed. goaded. Back toward where most of the melee had taken  
place. it was all churned up.  
"Stand still you cowardly human!"  
Jubei charged the one who had spoken. Confidence fled from the  
daemon as his foot moved out of position in the mud. Katana  
passed through sinew, clipping the collar bone. It was a bad  
strike, but a killing one none the less.  
  
Dog like screaming reprimanded him. 'Reflect on your mistakes  
later, not during battle.' More training came to the forefront  
as his body reacted to the out of control daemon. 'Fear, Rage,  
Hatred, Love. They will kill quicker than any sword.'  
  
It didn't bleed, it erupted. blue-black gouts. Frothy slime  
shot from the severed stump of the daemons arm no more than a  
blink of an eye after Jubei's sword passed through it. There  
came a guttural roar as it clutched the profusely bleeding limb.  
  
Iridescent moonlight sparked in artificial flashes, given off  
by the Katana pirouetting and weaving with the Ri Yue Xing Jian.  
man versus daemon. tickled by steel. a cut. a slash. ferocious  
but precise movements.  
"You sure know how to use those potato peelers." Jubei grunted  
out. The two continued to circle around, attempting to land a  
strike. The humanoid daemon showed his teeth, gloating after  
drawing some blood from Jubei's forearm.  
"Your better than most ronin we find on the road. I'll enjoy  
rutting your body once I finish you off." Its short barking  
laugh turned into a gurgle, three strikes in lightening quick  
succession lanced its body.  
"All talk and no play." Jubei said, turning his back.  
  
He started off at full speed, deeper into the forest the moment  
the last daemon's body spasmed. twitching. intestinal juices all  
over the ground. He didn't even bother looking back. The path  
to follow was simple. clearly defined. A stand of bulrush had  
carelessly been parted by those he persued.  
  
He slowed down then stopped altogether. The architecture of  
the forest had changed. The closer to the base of the mountain  
range the daemon brought him, it became less marshy and more  
harsher, more scrub like. rock. trees. greater openness.  
  
The atmosphere flickered and dimmed as clouds were layered over  
the moon as he came opon it.  
  
It was laying face up and directly in his path. Jubei  
carefully skirted around the daemons body fearing a trap. A  
quick nudge gave no result. curious. He stepped up to it for a  
closer look and was shocked. A long bo-shuriken protruded from  
its throat. It was perfectly centered, and only the tail was  
exposed. It was an intricate circle containing the design of a  
four petaled flower.  
  
Moving around the body he kept on down the path, his ears leading  
him onward, toward the faint sounds of a victims struggles.  
  
He soon found her.  
  
A pale form lay crumpled in the grass, limbs askew. The girls  
pale blue yukata was torn wide open. inflamed pink scratches.  
finger marks. the beginnings of a bruise lay high on her cheek.  
A crimson-blue froth oozed from her vagina, mouth and down over  
chin and chest. Jubei bent down and placed a gentle hand on her  
throat, hoping he wasn't too late to save her life, even if he  
was too late to save her from being sodomised and torn. She was  
alive at the least. unconscious. it was a soft slow pulse.  
  
The daemons attack came in loudly to Jubei's trained ears. a  
sloppy strike. Obviously this one was the boss purely by sheer  
size and nothing else.  
  
"My toy is broken" it said. "So now I'll play with you!" the  
daemon grabbed jubei by the forearm, spun and put its elbow into  
his ribcage and cast him across the other side of the clearing.  
his katana flew of his grasp.  
  
Jubei landed heavily and rolled limply several times. damaged  
ribs. bruises. Groaning he got to his hands and knees and  
felt a rivulet of blood dribble over his lips. a heavy kick to  
the ribs made him roll again.  
"The broken one put up more of a fight than you."  
Jubei blocked as much pain as he could and managed to get  
upright.  
"Well then, shall we go another round?" he asked the daemon.  
  
The two went round and round the clearing trading punches and  
kicks, all of which were taking a greater toll on Jubei than the  
daemon.  
  
Pal azure light. flickered. warped. Jubei caught it in the  
corner of his eye and spun out of the way. He began to study up  
the new adversary and weigh him into the equation. pale skin.  
short black hair. breasts. long legs. no visible weapons.  
  
"KAGERO!" he screamed it and ran towards her, his eyes  
fascinated by her moonlit luminescence. Two bo-shuriken winked  
from her hand and across the clearing, embedding themselves deep  
within the daemons eyesockets.  
  
Jubei managed to make it almost across the clearing as she  
began to flit amongst the trees. The look she wore was that of a  
sad smile and of loneliness.  
"Kagero" he said more quietly and fell face first into the  
grass. Looking backward he saw the unconscious woman whom he had  
tripped over. a victory, she was still alive. He looked forward  
to the darkened forest. Kagero had gone. a loss. he had lost her  
again, it was the second time he felt like this. He scrambled up  
and looked at the woman at his feet again, then gingerly gathered  
her up.  
  
Shifting her weight for better balance, Jubei cradled the  
unconscious naked woman in his arms, a heavy sadness making him  
look back to where Kagero had been. He began backtracking  
through the forest toward the road.  
  
  
- [*] - [*] - [*] -  
  
  
He studied the red-gold aura projected around the mountain from  
the suns feeble setting rays. A warm slow wind ambled along with  
him toward the inn. tonights destination. sanctuary.  
"I hope this lasts." he said aloud to himself. "I'd really  
like to have a good nights sleep."  
  
  
- [*] - [*] - [*] -  
  
  
questions, notes and so forth  
  
hmmmm maybe oneday i'll actually write something bigger than 8kb  
^_^ i guess its weird, strange and plain unreadable as my other  
stuff is so its no deviation from the norm. sigh.  
  
hmmm i just reread the beginning half and it reminded me too much  
of the opening of the film between Jubei, Kagero and Tesai. that  
was NOT my intended on my part.  
  
  
words n stuff.  
Nindo, presence, battle sense, kinda like a sixth sense.  
  
Weapons....  
Stiletto, not a shoe ;) its a knife.  
  
Ri Yue Hu Xing Jian, Two curved blades meet in the middle  
making an X shape, the middle is a circle which you hold on one  
side.  
  
Qing Long Dao, A scimitar style sword. very hard to weild with  
skill, sharper than most swords with a very thin blade of  
chinese origin (iirc)  
  
Kusari-Gama, think of a sickle with a chain attached to the  
handle, You hook your opponents weapon with the chain and go  
carving with the sickle.  
  
Bo-Shuriken, the more uncommon type of ninja star. This is the  
long nail like one. Not the star kind. (Remember Enter The  
Dragon? in the feast room the woman puts one right into the  
orange... hmm nasty :) Kagero's bo-shuriken had the circle  
with the 4 flower petals type design inside it. I assume its  
her Koga ninja clan symbol?? dunno.  
  
  
  
-df  
  
Dark Fiber [Entropic Coders]  
aka Virulent Dragon of =UDiC=  
Head honcho of the Ed Wood school of FanFiccing  
  
email: entropy@mpx.com.au  
http://www.mpx.com.au/~entropy  



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